The score was the winner of an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a BAFTA Award,
nominated as well for a Golden Globe. The song "A Love Before Time" was also nominated for
an Academy Award and a Grammy Award.

Buy it... if you seek a score that is truly authentic in its
presentation of Eastern musical traditions and features just enough
Western romanticism to create some crossover appeal.

Avoid it... if you're curious about the score simply because of the
hype generated by its many fans and its Oscar win, for Tan Dun's largely
sparse and repetitive work remains highly overrated.

EDITORIAL REVIEW

FILMTRACKS TRAFFIC RANK: #80

WRITTEN
12/18/00, REVISED 9/27/08

BUY IT

Dun

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: (Tan Dun) Receiving
critical and popular praise from nearly every corner of the globe after
its wide release in late 2000, director Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon built up formidable momentum as the season of annual
awards drew near, eventually striking Oscar gold. The film's premise
involves two female warriors in 19th Century China, contemplating and
acting upon love, honor, and sorrow. Rather than write the film off as a
Chinese costume drama, it's important to understand the historical
reasons for the film's intense fighting sequences. These scenes, showing
the warriors making extraordinary physical leaps, were awkward at the
time, though a better appreciation of the fantasy element has afforded
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (and its contemporaries) a better
place in the history of films across the entire world's stage. Lee's
films have always evoked a sharp artistic edge in their music, and his
choices for composers in the past had included Patrick Doyle and Mychael
Danna. For this project, he decided to employ one of China's most
popular concert, classical, and opera composers, Tan Dun, who had also
produced scores for a handful of American films at the time (though none
of immense success). In the East, Dun had been in the news for the
concert he composed and arranged by the name of "Symphony 1997,"
commemorating the return of control of Hong Kong to China. A
collaborator on his past concert works (including "Symphony 1997"),
cellist Yo-Yo Ma was a consistent performer for Dun, and most Western
film score collectors recognized his name due to his haunting
performances for John Williams' Seven Years in Tibet (also in
1997). Despite Dun's Academy Award win for this score, upsetting Hans
Zimmer's far more popular Gladiator, the composer did not
maintain the kind of career in mainstream film scoring that this early
success had promised. Ma, on the other hand, would. Together, Ang Lee's
all-around Chinese approach to his personnel, together with Dun's
styles, created an ethnically precise Eastern score for Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon that remains highly regarded today.

For purely Western ears, Dun's music will present a
challenge. Because of the inherent subtlety of Eastern music of the
period, there are no sweeping themes for characters or grand rhythms for
fight scenes. There is a set of motifs utilized throughout the score, as
well as a pair of memorable themes that Dun refers to frequently, but
not obviously. Instead, Dun correctly tackles the project with an
underscore that strikes a balance between minimalistic care and muted
ethnic romance. While not establishing itself early as the primary theme
of the film, the longing romantic tone of the string idea in "The
Eternal Vow" becomes the score's overarching identity, eventually
translating into the obligatory song performance. This theme's beauty is
often betrayed, though, by the strained tone of its performances,
especially on Ma's part. The score is taut with tension throughout, its
melodies brooding in sparse strings while percussive elements set the
basic tone and style of the music's sense of movement. There is nothing
flashy about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; even with its
fantasy elements, Dun's lyrical impressions are repetitious and rely on
the elevated diversity of its own instrumentation to succeed. The cello
solos by Ma are very good, as to be expected, but the melodies he
performs offer only hint of convincing depth; the extreme upper ranges
of the instrument aren't particularly attractive. The rest of the score
is dominated by inconsistent string motifs, occasional blasts of brass
in unison, and the stunning array of specialty instrumentation. The
two-stringed erhu is perhaps the most recognizable aspect of traditional
Chinese music, and its use is almost constant. Dun adds the bawu, dizi,
rawap, and lesser-known waterphone for an almost mystical effect in a
handful of sequences. The drum performances of "Night Fight" offer one
of the only extended, intrusive moments of stylistic distance in the
score. The equally shallow "To the South" merges percussion with solo
woodwind in an equally plain soundscape. Together, these elements all
create a dissonance in the style of classical composer Toru Takemitsu,
requiring a careful appreciation of subtle tension in the music for it
to blossom.

For any typical collector of Western movie music, the
score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on album could prove
even more problematic. The composer doesn't hit distinct synchronization
points, thus allowing the recording to take on the structure of a series
of suites. As such, Dun's composition can very well be treated as a
concert piece in its construct, relying heavily on its intense solo
performances and intimate treatment of traditional Eastern music. While
underlying Western romanticism is easily evident, the unsettling
repetition of motifs using the Eastern instrumentation causes the score
to remain just out of reach. The repetition itself becomes a detriment
at times as well, with several passages being largely redundant. The
effectiveness of the music in the film is not really to be questioned,
but had the movie been scored by Zhao Jiping, whose career emphasis
rests on Chinese film music rather than concert works, then the
translation of that material to album may have proven to be more
accessible. While the music never becomes intolerably burdened by its
own repetitions and defeated attitude, the album is awkwardly
disturbing, if not depressing. Regardless of that emotional tone, the
score is a piece that should be well received in concert even if it
fails to ultimately gain the admiration of many Americans. The song
performed in English and Mandarin by CoCo Lee at the end of the album
uses the melody of the theme in "The Eternal Vow," though it goes
against the fundamental sound of Dun's score, inserting an easily
marketable pop song interpretation to boost unit sales. Ironically,
because the song boasts a translation of that Eastern romanticism into a
Western rock band ensemble, it might be better received by more
listeners. Lee's voice is certainly appealing, even if the now-dated
synthetic accompaniment is disappointing. Also of note about the album
is the seemingly long pause inserted between each track, causing an
occasional break of mood. Overall, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
is the type of score that wins Western awards because of the critical
success of its film, and even though it proved to be too strong a
contender for its Oscar competition, it remains a significantly
overrated work that, regardless of cultural style, isn't the crossover
powerhouse that many claim it to be. ***@Amazon.com: CD or
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